SPOILER: Former AEW World Champion Returns During Collision Tapings (AEW News)
This multi-time AEW World Champion made their shock return at last night's Collision taping.
Having been absent from AEW for well over a year, Hikaru Shida made her long-awaited return at last night's Collision taping.
As announced ahead of time, Willow Nightingale laid down an open challenge for her AEW TBS Title on this week's Collision. Taped from Winnipeg, Manitoba's Canada Life Center last night, per PWInsider, it was former three-time AEW Women's Champ Shida who answered this call.
This week's Collision will air tonight at 8pm ET on TNT/HBO Max rather than its usual Saturday slot, due to the NCAA men's basketball on TNT this weekend. However, a Collision replay will air on Saturday once the basketball has wrapped up, with that replay tentatively planned to air at 11:30pm ET.
Where Hikaru Shida is concerned, she last wrestled for AEW back in November 2024, losing to Kris Statlander on Dynamite. That's a mammoth 16 months away from TV. The 37-year-old wrestled 11 times in Japan last year, and her initial AEW absence was down to certain visa issues; issues that have long been cleared up.
The topic of Shida's status came up during a recent Fightful Select Answers Q&A, with Sean Ross Sapp noting that she was at home in Orlando, Florida, "chilling with her cat" and with no creative plans in place for a return. Whether that prompted AEW to have Hikaru answer Willow Nightingale's challenge, who knows. Likewise, it remains to be seen whether this was a one-off appearance from the hugely talented Shida or whether this Collision appearance marks the start of a full return to TV.